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The Muslim Community’s Selective Mourning Has to Stop

The recent attacks in Iraq highlight our Muslim community’s act of selective mourning.

With the death toll rising above 250, the bombings targeted a predominantly Shia neighborhood in Karrada, Baghdad. The bombing took place at a multi-level mall that was turned to rubble during a busy time where many women, children, and youth were either working inside, or spending time with friends and family shortly after breaking fast.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for this bombing, as it did with the tragedies of Dhaka and Ataturk Airport.

As mosques and organizations rushed to organize vigils, I have yet to see any action taken by the Muslim community to support Iraqis. This selective mourning stems from who the Muslim American community has deemed appropriate for the label “Muslim,” and a purposeful silence regarding atrocities in Iraq.

This selective mourning stems from who the Muslim American community has deemed appropriate for the label “Muslim,” and a purposeful silence regarding atrocities in Iraq. tweet

I have been seeing tweets and posts from community leaders, organizers and Muslims expressing their condolences about the attacks, and using it as a means of proving to the world that Daesh is un-Islamic. Attacking fasting Muslims in Ataturk airport, in Dhaka, and in Baghdad is undoubtedly un-Islamic. If there’s one thing you take from this article it is this:  The burned and maimed bodies of civilian women, men and children must not serve as means of proving your point. Of scoring some political currency. Their lives must never be used for your consumption. How shameful to belittle the dead’s legacy and life contributions to that of a body count number to prove that Daesh is un-Islamic because they attack and torment Muslims too.

Attacking fasting Muslims in Ataturk airport, in Dhaka, and in Baghdad is undoubtedly un-Islamic. If there’s one thing you take from this article it is this: The burned and maimed bodies of civilian women, men and children must not serve as means of proving your point.  Of scoring some political currency. Their lives must never be used for your consumption. How shameful to belittle the dead’s legacy and life contributions to that of a body count number to prove that Daesh is un-Islamic because they attack and torment Muslims too. tweet

More specifically, the Muslim community is continuously silent when such attacks occur in Iraq. With such a high number of deaths in the attack on Karrada, Muslims jumped to the opportunity to highlight that a large number of Muslims were also killed by Daesh.

Rather than genuinely caring about the Iraqi Shia community that is regularly brutalized, these voices are simply pandering to people that believe Muslims should be apologizing for Daesh attacks.

They highlight only the case of Karrada to depoliticize reality and supply a basic “See, Daesh is un-Islamic; they attack Muslims, too!” talking point.  Such shallow and obvious analyses and performances in condolences simply serve as an erasure of Shia identity.

The only reason we hear a peep from the wider Muslim community on Karrada is to use these bodies as a means of appeasement to white Euro-American sensibilities built on distorted, apolitical, and ahistorical notions of fear.

Such shallow and obvious analyses and performances in condolences simply serve as an erasure of Shia identity.  tweet

Instead of using our time to center white America and prove to them that Daesh is not a Muslim group, we should instead be rushing to create spaces for people impacted by the atrocities to mourn, grieve, and reflect. The only vigils I see for Karrada have been organized by Iraqis themselves. If we had a community that supported one another, leaders and organizers would step up to create these spaces instead of putting the emotional and physical labor on the people who most need the time for mourning and reflection.

The only vigils I see for Karrada have been organized by Iraqis themselves.  If we had a community that supported one another, leaders and organizers would step up to create these spaces instead of putting the emotional and physical labor on the people who most need the time for mourning and reflection. tweet

The case of selective mourning and Karrada point to another issue:  That of the erasure of Shia within the Muslim community.

Those who do mention Iraq at all purposely ignore that Shias were specifically targeted in this attack. Before Daesh, there was Alqaeda attacking Shia communities. Perpetrators of violence against the Shia community may come and go, and differ over time, but what is constant is the Muslim community’s deadening silence and apathy.

Perpetrators of violence against the Shia community may come and go, and differ over time, but what is constant is the Muslim community’s deadening silence and apathy.  tweet

When Shia communities are targeted, as they have been since the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq, groups rarely speak of the violence perpetrated against these communities as atrocities. These atrocities are rarely given visibility or condemned. As I write this article, I notice that the unfortunate bombings in Saudi Arabia quickly began trending on Twitter. Muslims all over the world are expressing their anger and how this is an attack on Muslims. Are some Muslims not worthy of the wider Muslim community’s grief, empathy, support, and sense of political urgency? Where are the condolences and anger for Iraq? Where is the distress over a country that will have to rebuild from the rubble yet again, a country that has become known as “hell on Earth.”

These hierarchies dehumanize already marginalized people. Our Muslim community is plagued by so many hierarchies that render who is worthy of belonging, concern and empathy on one hand, and scapegoating, apathy and othering on the other.

The use of this tragedy as a means of organizations and mosques to differentiate themselves from Daesh or to use this tragedy as a “learning tool” is belittling and hypocritical. It furthers the expectation that Muslims must be apologetic for groups such as Daesh, a form of political correctness to survive in the good graces of people in power–but at whose expense?

The use of this tragedy as a means of organizations and mosques to differentiate themselves from Daesh or to use this tragedy as a “learning tool” is belittling and hypocritical. It furthers the expectation that Muslims must be apologetic for groups such as Daesh, a form of political correctness to survive in the good graces of people in power–but at whose expense? tweet

For anyone who is concerned with history, ISIS is a byproduct of the destruction that the US government forced down on Iraq and its people. A couple recent examples come to mind…

The Islamic Center of America, which prides itself as the face of Islam in America and the largest mosque in North America, has pictures of George W. Bush hung in its hallways from his visit to Dearborn, one of the most highly concentrated areas of Muslims outside of the Middle East.  That’s demeaning and hurtful, especially considering a large portion of the members of the ICA are Iraqi refugees.

The Islamic Center of America, which prides itself as the face of Islam in America and the largest mosque in North America, has pictures of George W. Bush hung in its hallways tweet

ISNA, The Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella organization, tweeted “We are outraged and saddened by the attack in Baghdad. We send sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” but this is also the same organization that had the audacity to kick Iraqi rapper The Narcicyst off its stage at last year’s annual convention, for speaking about the dire situation  in Iraq as a result of the US government’s violent policies and tactics. ISNA also had no problem welcoming Michigan Governor Snyder, whose most notable disgrace is the Flint water crisis, on to the same stage to state his support for Israel. These actions speak volumes for organizations meant to represent the welfare of Muslim Americans.

ISNA also had no problem welcoming Michigan Governor Snyder, whose most notable disgrace is the Flint water crisis, on to the same stage to state his support for Israel. These actions speak volumes for organizations meant to represent the welfare of Muslim Americans. tweet

I end by asking you each to pray for the lives lost and the mourning families. Pray for the crews that worked tirelessly and for days to put out the flames, clear the area of debris, and, most hauntingly, to remove bodies from the rubble so that they could be properly buried. Pray for the mothers with empty laps in Karrada, and all over the world. Let’s rid our community of these hierarchies, prejudices, and double standards. Let’s be better and let’s do better–not just for our community, but for humanity as a whole.

Written by Banen Al-Sheemary.  Follow her on Twitter at @balsheem.

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